Monday, February 11, 2013

Tensions
surrounding numerous maritime territorial disputes in East Asia have become a
pressing challenge for U.S. foreign policymakers. Beginning around
2005-2006, long-disputed waters in the South China Sea and, more recently,
the East China Sea have become the site of increasingly aggressive
behavior from nations trying to strengthen claims to disputed areas or to
explore and develop offshore energy and fishery resources. Rising tensions
in these waters raise a number of important issues for the 113th Congress.

The tensions have been fed by a series of aggressive actions by maritime
authorities, including harassing vessels, destroying equipment, and
blockading islets and shoals. The increasing frequency of such events
raises the possibility of miscalculations that could lead to overt conflict at
sea. It also poses complex questions about security and U.S. diplomacy in the
region, and represents one of the most complicated challenges for the
Obama Administration’s strategy of “rebalancing” foreign policy priorities
towards the Asia-Pacific.

The territorial disputes at the heart of these tensions are decades old, and
incidents between the parties to the disputes have been ongoing for many
years.

In the South China Sea, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) makes extensive claims,
including marking on its maps an ambiguous “nine dash line” that covers most
of the sea, including the Spratly and Paracel island groups. These claims overlap
with those of four Southeast Asian nations—Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines,
and Vietnam, which themselves have claims that conflict with each other.
Taiwan also makes extensive claims mirroring those of the PRC.

In the East China Sea, China, Japan, and Taiwan each claim a
Japan-administered island group that Japan calls the Senkakus, China the
Diaoyu Islands, and Taiwan the Diaoyutai Islands.

Other territorial disputes exist between Japan and South Korea in the Sea of Japan,
and between China and South Korea in the Yellow Sea.

Although the United States has no territorial claim in these waters and does
not take a position on the various specific territorial disputes, it does
have treaty obligations with Japan and the Philippines that could be
invoked if they become involved in an active conflict with another of the claimants.
It is longstanding U.S. policy that the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, which
stipulates that the United States is bound to protect Japan, covers the
Senkaku islets, raising the prospect that the United States could become
militarily involved in a Sino-Japanese conflict over the islets. The
applicability of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty to
Philippine-claimed islands and waters in the South China Sea is less
clear. This ambiguity presents a dilemma, in that the United States seeks
to avoid being drawn into a potential conflict, but also seeks to support its treaty
ally and deter a use of force against it.

The ability of the disputing countries, and of the United States and other
parties, to manage tensions touches on numerous other U.S. interests
including:

protecting free and unimpeded commerce along some of the world’s busiest maritime
trade routes;

maintaining peace and stability among maritime nations in the Asia-Pacific;

encouraging rules-based regional norms that discourage coercion or the use of force;

protecting the U.S. Navy’s ability to operate in these areas;

managing U.S. treaty alliances with nations involved in the disputes; and

avoiding intimidation of U.S. companies which may seek to operate in the region.

The 113th Congress may address East Asian
maritime territorial disputes and the issues surrounding them in various
ways. The Senate may consider offering its advice and consent on the
United States becoming a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS). Congress may also choose to examine the economic and
security implications of a greater U.S. military presence in disputed
areas, or the merits of providing additional resources to Southeast Asian
nations to monitor and police their maritime domains. It may choose to support efforts
to lower tensions, including discussions between China and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on a Code of Conduct for parties in the
South China Sea.

Date of Report: January 23, 2013
Number of Pages: 38Order Number: R42930Price: $29.95

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